Health Information Management

Plan for the future and trust that your revamped policies are sound

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, July 27, 2009

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As technology grows, evolves, and spawns newer versions of itself, security and privacy challenges promise to become even worse.

“The security and privacy challenges can be overwhelming,” says Brian Tretick, executive director of Ernst & Young’s IT Enablement Center in McLean, VA.

You don’t have to know about everything at once. Instead, follow these steps to get started:

Take an inventory of your information. “You need to know the good, the bad, and the ugly,” says Tretick. “It’s all part of a risk assessment.”

Identify which devices, portable or otherwise, your organization uses. Determine the risks involved, the areas in which your organization is vulnerable, and reasonable steps to mitigate these risks in the short and long term. This is important for all organizations, says Tretick. “You have internal systems, devices, paper copies, third-party service providers, and electronic exchanges,” he says. “It’s difficult to have a handle on all of that and know where all the information is. No one alone has that kind of vision.”

Editor’s note: This excerpt is from an article in the June 2009 HCPro, Inc., newsletter, Briefings on HIPAA. Get more information on this newsletter. More tips to follow in next week’s HIPAA Weekly Advisor.



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